The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-20
MIDDLEMEN IN COAL.

the Precious Fuel When it Was
Cheap.
From the Nelo York Herald, Thursday, Nou r..
The scarcity of coal continues, and the
prospect for an adequate supply in the i'm
mediate future grows beautifully less. In
deed, the time is apparently not far distant
when the jewellers i'll the metropolis will
have to pay 81 ton, and perhaps more, for
coal, unless there is an early change in the
! situation.
Wen, whose fault is it?
The retailers say it is the fault of the
transportation companies and the middle
men,
The transportation lines, or more proper
| ly, their officials, declare that they haven't
cars and locomotives enough to bring the
coal to market, although they are eXhausting
every means to that end They assert,
moreover, that the strike in the Lehigh Val
! ley is responsible for this state of things, i'll
that it has thrown an unusual burden upon
rival mining and railway companies.
The ''middlemen," or wholesale dealers
and commission houses, say there is coal
enough on the dumps but that they can't
| get it in the quantities they need, owing to
! the inability OF the railroads to deliver it,
and that consequently they are compelled to
| put up the price to the retailers who insist
upon Immediate delivery.
| And there are dozen other reasons adj
vanced for the meagre supply and addi-
tional cost of the ''black diamonds"
| OF WHAT AVAIL ARE THEY!
| But what avail excuses and explanations,
| plausible though some of them be.
The naked fact remains that there is not
coal enough in New York to supply the de-
| mand, and that consumers here are now
paying from 81 to 81 80 more per ton for it
| than they did a month or two ago. Further
more, they are likely to be called upon to
pay still higher prices before the conditions
| change.
Yesterday Herald reporter asked one of
the largest wholesale dealers in the city-a
! gentleman who is agent for several of the
| Leading coal companieS-what the prospect
was; whether the retail price of coal would
| go on climbing up for considerable time
TO come, or whether, with the close of navi-
cation at winter-bound ports, there would
De an increase in the supply at New York
and a corresponding decrease i'll price
| He said he didn't know what to say; it
| depended altogether upon circumstances
| You see" he explained, 1.-THE bulk of the
| Lehigh region coal is out Of the market and
| has been for some months, owing to the
| strike in the Lehigh Valley, and that means
| a decrease of about 100000 tons ID week
nearly 20 per cent. of the total supply--in
the amount of coal usually sent to this point
for distribution. There has been, moreover,
an unusual demand throughout the country
| this year for coal, especially i'll the West,
where a very large proportion of the pro-
| ductiOn is now being sent. To be sure,
about Z, 400 600 tons will be mined this year,
| in spite of the Lehigh Valley strike over
the production last year. But for all that
| the supply at distributing points is not
| equal to the demand. And this is largely
due to the lack of sufficient transportation
facilities. The railroads actually haven't
enough cars to bring the coal to market.
LOCAL TRADE FIRST.
'They are of course, taking care of their
local. or line trade first, and just now
| thousands ON thousands of their cars are en-
| gagged in carrying the surplus production to
Lake and other Western points. As mat
| ter of fact very few dealers in this city are
selling coal to-day-that is, they are not
| taking new orders, and for the very simple
reason that they have no coal to sell other
| than that which was contracted for weeks
and months ago. Those who have coal to
sell on new orders get SIS so for stove and
| nut sizes, free on board at the various
coal ports, and the buyer has to pay the
| freight.
THAT is perfectly proper, it seems to me,
for why shouldn't we coal people accept the
| opportunity to get a good price for our
goods, as well as those engaged in other
| lines of businesss l don't see why we
| shouldn't, do yous
but there is this to bear in mind ALI
reputable wholesale dealers in coal are fill
| ing their old orders as best they can and as
| quickly as possible at the old rates There
| is no disposition, SO far as have observed, TO
| take advantage of regular customers i'll this
| respect"
The HerdidS informant then went on to
state that one reason for the higher price of
coal delivered at New York and other points
East was hat shippers rates by water had
been increased and were still going up.
Then the railroad companies had increased
their freight rates Pc. per ton. To meet
these advances the ''middiemen" had to put
up their figures to dealers. in the course of
a month or so--by Jan. /, i'll all probability
prices to consumers would be less, owing
to a cessation in Western traffic and a con
sequent reduction i'll freight charges On
the whole 1t was doubtful if coal would go
| above 81 per ton in New York.
GREATER DEMAND THAN EVER.
| Another gentleman engaged in the whole
sale coal business said that the actual CON
SUMPTION of coal throughout the country,
! owing to the steady increase i'll population,
is greater than ever before, and that the en-
tire production of the mines, estimated at
about 50 600 900 tons this year, viii not be
more than sufficient, even If carried to mar
ket, to meet the demand. There is a de-
cided scarcity of coal in New York at the
present time, he added.
The representative Of another large firm
in the coal business in this city, which sells
hundreds of thousands of tons Of coal
year, said that if the retail dealers would in
sist upon lying back in June, July and Au-
gust and refrain from putting in their
stocks when they could buy coal cheap,
they must expect to pay higher prices at a
time of year when the immediate supply
was inadequate to the demand. There was
a greater demand for coal this year than in
any previous year, and the railroads, with
the Lehigh system idle, could not accommo-
date it, They could not be blamed for adj
vancing their rates under the circumstan-
| ceS
All the companies, this dealer claimed,
are delivering coal sold by them months
ago, and upon which they are not obtaining
nrces upon sales made from time t.
time since then. The pre- ent figures have
ueen reached as the result of gradual Nj
crease in price, keeping pace with the in
creased demand. Some retailers there are
whose necessities compel them to pay from
pc. to SOC. per ton for coal more than they
did brief while ago.
JUST AS BAD DOWN EAST.
This applies not alone to New York deal
ers but to those of Eastern towns and cities